Pope declares an 18th century man from India a saint

Divya Chandrababu

CHENNAI: Devasahayam, an Indian man who converted to Christianity in the 18th century in the then kingdom of Travancore, was declared a saint by Pope Francis at the Vatican on Sunday.

Devasahayam was beatified in 2012 after Pope Benedict XVI made the announcement. Nine years later, a press release from the Vatican on Sunday said that Pope Francis had cleared Devasahayam and nine others for Sainthood. A miracle attributed to Devasahayam was recognised by Pope Francis in 2014, clearing the path to his canonisation, according to news agency PTI. This process was recommended by the Kottar diocese, Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council and the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India.

“While preaching, he particularly insisted on the equality of all people, despite caste differences. This aroused the hatred of the higher classes, and he was arrested in 1749. After enduring increasing hardships, he received the crown of martyrdom when he was shot on 14 January 1752,” a note prepared by the Vatican earlier had said according to PTI.

However, there was some confusion about Devasahayam’s last name in the Vatican press release. While one added Devasahayam’s last name as ‘Pillai’, the other named him as Lazzarus Devasahayam.

Retired IAS officer M G Devesahayam told HT that in keeping with the Church and state rules, caste names are dropped after a person is anointed a priest.

“After his beatification, we found that all records had his caste name,” he said.

“Tamil Nadu abolished caste names a long time back. In Catholic church, when you become a priest you have to give up your caste name. So we wrote to the Vatican and we pursued the case vigorously. They have removed it now but everyone including the media is still using it.”

Devasahayam had taken the name ‘Lazarus’ after embracing Christianity in 1745 in Vadakankulam. According to the website of the Diocese of Kottar, ‘Martyr’ Devasahayam was born in 1712 at Nattalam in the present district of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. He was named Neelakandan and his surname ‘Pillai’ referred to his caste.

INDIA BADMINTON

“As for me, this is the greatest ever victory for Indian badminton. Of course, Prakash and Gopi’s victories at All England, Sindhu becoming world champion are all big achievements, but when it comes to team events, this is the biggest thing,” selector and former chief coach U Vimal Kumar, travelling as the team manager, said from Bangkok.

The Olympics, world championships, team events Thomas, Uber and Sudirman Cup, are the highest tier events in badminton.

India’s achievement is doubly special because they subdued favourites Indonesia with two matches to spare. They were an epitome of consistency and fighting spirit through the week, having beaten heavyweights and former champions Malaysia and Denmark (both 3-2) in the quarters and semis.

In 14-time champions Indonesia, India were up against the most successful team in the 73-year-old tournament. But Indian shuttlers rose to the occasion.

Young world No. 9 Lakshya Sen, world No. 8 doubles pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and then former world No. 1 Srikanth punched above their weight to beat their top-ranked opponents.

Previously, I ndia’s best performance at the biennial event was reaching the lastfour stage in 1979 but medals were not awarded then for the losing s e mi - f i n a l i s t s . Thus i t i s a l s o I ndi a ’ s f i r s t

A MIRACLE BY DEVASAHAYAM WAS RECOGNISED BY THE POPE IN 2014, CLEARING PATH TO HIS CANONISATION

medal in the event.

“The I ndian badminton team has scripted history! The entire nation is elated by India winning the Thomas Cup! Congratulations to our accomplished team and best wishes to them f or their future endeavours. This win will motivate so many upcoming sportspersons,” tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who also had a telephonic conversation with the squad after the victory.

The Union sports ministry announced a cash award of ₹1 crore for the victors.

The Badminton Association of India ( BAI) also announced ₹1 crore for the players and ₹20 lakh for the support staff.

The team went out for a celebratory late-night dinner in Bangkok.

“We are going to dance late into the night when we get back to our hotel,” said Shetty before leaving for dinner.